


Buried Boxes And Pressed Flowers

by KaiserinAstraia



Series: Kai's Soriku Week 2020 [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Universe, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Prompt: Time Capsule, Soriku Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:01:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27942692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaiserinAstraia/pseuds/KaiserinAstraia
Summary: “I… I was thinking. We’re leaving tomorrow, again, and we don’t know when we’ll be back.” Sora scratched his cheek thoughtfully. “Still, I feel bad that we have to go. I was thinking maybe we could leave something behind, to — I don’t know... proof that we were here?”“You mean like a time capsule?”-Or, in which Sora and Riku bury and unearth a time capsule.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Kai's Soriku Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046245
Comments: 15
Kudos: 77





	Buried Boxes And Pressed Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> For day 1 of soriku week 2020! Prompt: time capsule!
> 
> Thank you so much to @Fireborn for beta-ing right before bed alkshdlfkh I may have gone feral and wrote this entirely during my lunch break today and then crashed her dm's like "uwu hello" lkahsldkfh.

They buried it together, ten years ago, right before they left to take the Mark of Mastery Exam that first time. There was something in the air at that time that told them they wouldn’t be returning to Destiny Islands for a long time once they left… And as fate would have it, they had been correct.

It had been Sora’s idea. After reading Mickey’s letter, he became strangely somber — but Riku hadn’t the courage to ask what was on his mind. Luckily Sora didn’t make him wait too long; that night, small pebbles rapped against Riku’s bedroom window just as they had years before — then for sleepovers and sneaking out. Just like back then, Riku hadn’t been asleep yet. Though the window creaked while opening due to lack of use, Sora still tumbled in like he belonged there. (He did, to Riku.)

“Riku,” Sora called, in that hushed tone he used when he had an idea but was shy about it. “Sorry, were you asleep?” 

“Nah,” Riku whispered back. “Couldn’t.”

Sora sat pretzel-style on Riku’s bed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, me neither.”

It was one thing for Riku to suffer insomnia’s grip, but another for Sora. “...What’s up?” Riku asked, unsure how to be more specific.

Sora met Riku’s eyes for a moment — brilliant, shining blue in the pale light of Riku’s room — but then looked bashfully away. “I… I was thinking. We’re leaving tomorrow, again, and we don’t know when we’ll be back.” 

Riku silently nodded. Sora continued, “It’s weird, I don’t know… I don’t feel that… _sad_ about it, you know?”

Riku tilted his head in thought. He _did_ know — he’d known since they resolved to build a raft and sail off toward the horizon with nothing but a couple of fish and coconuts. But Riku had always known that Sora _hadn’t_ felt that same unsettling urge to go, at least, not then. Had that changed?

“I…” Riku started. “Me too.”

Sora released a relieved sigh. Then he gave Riku a grateful grin, and Riku was so glad to be alive to witness it. “Phew, I thought it was just me.” He scratched his cheek thoughtfully. “Still, I feel bad that we have to go. I was thinking maybe we could leave something behind, to — I don’t know... proof that we were here?”

“You mean like a time capsule?” Riku supplied; they’d done it before, albeit when they played pretend-pirates and buried treasure. Though they were supposed to bury it and come back after a long time, a week felt like forever to Sora, so they’d always end up reclaiming their trinkets far too early.

Sora’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, like that! It could be like… a promise we’ll come back, someday. I guess.”

Frankly, Riku didn’t really feel the need to come back, but he’d long resolved to go wherever Sora did. “Yeah.”

Sora clambered off the bed and stood triumphantly in the center of Riku’s room, gazing about. “What could we bring…” 

Riku’s room was depressingly bare, save for a junk drawer Riku kept from before. Riku stared at the handle, suddenly wondering what was still in there, and whether there was anything… incriminating, inside. He looked away.

“Meet at the docks in twenty minutes?” Riku proposed. “You gotta get your stuff from your house.”

“Oh yeah!” Sora replied, a little too loud and enthusiastic for the late hour. Still, it made the cold room a little warmer, to Riku, so he didn’t mind at all. Sora sent another too-sweet smile Riku’s way, and before Riku could even attempt a smile back, he clambered through the window and into the night.

Riku couldn’t help but snort. At least some things hadn’t changed.

* * *

“Think we buried it a little _too_ deep?”

Sora stabbed his shovel into the sand so it stood on its own and grinned toward Riku with a hand on his hip, waiting for a reaction.

Riku smirked back. “That would be _your_ fault — you were worried a hurricane would take it.” He pointed at Sora with his own shovel, earning him a pout. 

“It was a legitimate concern!” Sora gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’m gonna get blisters from all this digging.” 

“Oh no,” Riku said, deadpan, as he tossed another shovel-full of sand into their pile. “The hero of light’s one weakness.” 

“That’s right,” Sora sniffed. He plopped down next to the hole they’d dug, face up at the sky. His cheeks _were_ getting a little pink.

“Wanna take a break?” Despite the joking, Riku was a little concerned.

“Nah, just gimme five,” Sora replied, smiling to reassure Riku.

“Sure,” Riku answered, then resumed digging. Truthfully, Riku was surprised Sora had dug as long as he had; not that Sora was _lazy_ , but his attention span only allowed him short bursts of focused energy. It’d been that way even when building the raft years and years ago. 

Sora filled the comfortable silence after a minute of catching his breath. “You know, I don’t even remember what I put in the box.”

“I think that’s the point.” 

“ _Yeah_ , I _know_ , I’m just curious if I can guess, is all… Do you remember what you put in?”

Riku paused digging to think about it. He didn’t remember the time capsule itself insomuch as he remembered the night. He remembered the apprehension and wonder that Sora wanted to do this with _him_ , and just him. After all that had changed, the Riku of that time hadn’t a shred of expectation for their friendship, content only to remain in Sora’s orbit in some capacity. To him, burying trinkets together as a promise to return meant they’d be _together_ to come back, and that was more meaningful than the box itself.

“...No,” Riku replied but smiled fondly at the man lying in the sand. “I just remember _someone_ saying that he’d kick my ass if I used it as an excuse to disappear again.”

Sora flushed bright red at the accusation and sat up with a scowl. He couldn’t meet Riku’s eyes when he muttered, “I didn’t want to be without you again…”

It was Riku’s turn to pause, but before he could think twice, the shovel fell to the ground as Riku joined Sora by his side and turned his face for a kiss. 

Sora’s skin was hot from the sun but still soft — his lips too, were warm, though a little chapped. Riku never minded. He tasted like the coconut water he’d drunk earlier and sweet, and Riku relished in all these things like he could capture the moment in a time capsule of its own. Sora inhaled quickly with surprise from the kiss but immediately kissed back, leaning into Riku’s hand cupping his cheek. 

Sora licked Riku’s bottom lip, but Riku pulled away. “If you do that, we’ll never find the box,” Riku said.

“Aww,” Sora complained breathlessly, eyes lidded happily. He dipped in again and stole another quick kiss that Riku was more than happy to give, but seemed to accept they couldn’t just make out on the beach forever. “What was that for, anyway?”

Riku pinched Sora’s nose and fondly shook Sora’s head with it. “Because I love you, you sap.” Then he stood, picking up the shovel.

Though Sora held his nose like he was injured, his eyes shined with humor. “I have fierce competition for sappiness, so, you know.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Riku said, but he was smiling himself. To make a point of moving on from who was sappier, Riku shoved the shovel back into the hole to resume digging.

The loud _thunk_ that emanated from _something_ Riku hit distracted them both.

“You got it!” Sora cheered, leaning up to his knees to peer down into the sandy pit. Immediately he set about scooping sand out around the shovelhead, revealing a badly rusted metal lunchbox.

“Aww, it rusted over Superman,” Sora said. Riku removed the shovel and joined Sora in excavating the lunchbox, careful of any sharp edges.

They were able to retrieve the time capsule without injury, thankfully, and relocated to a spot in the sand under the palm trees for shade. Riku leaned against the trunk of the tree and Sora scooted until he could lean against Riku’s side. Luckily it seemed Sora was taking it upon himself to open the capsule, so Riku could hang his arm over Sora’s shoulders without needing that hand.

“I remember the box, now, at least,” Sora said cheerfully. “Let’s see…”

The box had a metal clasp at the front that was easily undone. Sora had to put in a little strength to pry the lid open regardless, because of the rust. But, despite the time and location and weather, inside the box were their trinkets, largely unharmed and resting exactly as they’d been placed.

“Oh my god!” Sora cried, picking out a bottle cork from the top. “This was uh… from the bottle! The one that had Kairi’s letter in it, when we were in the Realm of Darkness!”

“Oh yeah,” Riku said, inspecting as Sora turned it over in his hands. “You kept it…”

“Yeah, of course I did.” Sora looked up at him, eyes just as blue and brilliant as ever, and Riku saw Sora’s love just in his stare. They didn’t have to talk about that day after their fight with Xemnas anymore, because they both knew what it had meant to each other.

They returned to the collection. “Oh, what’s this?” Sora asked, grabbing what looked like a… pendant. It was made of resin, judging by the yellowish tint, encasing dried leaves and pressed yellow flowers. 

“Oh,” Riku said, remembering. Even after a decade, the damn thing still made him want to sink into the earth.

“Ohoh?” Sora said, twisting to see Riku’s face even though he was turned away. “This was yours, wasn’t it?”

Riku gave in, sighing. He knew Sora wouldn’t let it go after reacting so suspiciously. “Yeah, it’s… don’t laugh, ok?” 

Sora attempted to stop smiling but failed miserably. “I promise.”

Riku stared skeptically but continued anyway. “I made it in school, before we left. It was supposed to be for Mother’s Day or something but I dried paopu leaves and those flowers you liked and…” Riku made the mistake of looking at Sora again, who was giving him an enraptured stare. The embarrassment surged again and made Riku’s ears hot, so he looked away.

“You… you were going to give it to me, weren’t you?” Sora asked. 

Riku’s silence gave him away. Sora put the time capsule to the side and leaned over, a hand placed gently on Riku’s knee. 

“Riku, that’s so… _sweet_.” At least Sora wasn’t laughing, but somehow his tender tone was just as bad. “Why didn’t you?”

Riku cleared his throat. “I— I don’t know, things were complicated then, remember? I thought you were into Kairi so…”

Sora did giggle at that, but he raised his palm to Riku’s jaw and turned Riku to look at him. “You dummy,” he said, and with Sora looking so _fond_ it was impossible for Riku to argue. “Ok, sure, it was different then, but c’mon, I would’ve loved it. I love it now!”

Riku dumbly nodded, swallowing thickly. 

“It’s not like this is the _first_ time you’re giving me things,” Sora continued, glancing down to the crown pendant he still wore to this day.

“That— that’s true. But I was a dumb teenager, ok,” Riku finally defended himself, albeit weakly. 

Sora hummed something that sounded like agreement, then admired the pendant for a few moments more before pocketing it. “I’ll find a chain for it, or something.”

The thought of Sora _wearing_ it made Riku want to hide behind his hands, again, but well, the pendant _was_ meant for Sora from the start. “If you want,” Riku acquiesced reluctantly. 

“Good, because I do.” Sora leaned up and rubbed his nose against Riku’s, still grinning sweetly. “You luuuuuurve me.”

Riku made a sound like he was being strangled. “No, I take it back, give it,” Riku said, leaning away.

“No, no, it’s too late, it’s mine—”

They ended up tumbling and wrestling in the sand, the time capsule resting forgotten in the shade. They’d return to it, later, but some things never changed, even after a decade: all their precious memories derived from being together.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy soriku week & thank you so much for reading! As always, I'm on twitter @KaiserinAstraia!


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